Palin confirms campaign discord

McCain’s aides kept her ‘bottled up,’ memoir claims

NEW YORK – The rumors are true, according to Sarah Palin: The McCain-Palin campaign was not a happy family.

In Palin’s new memoir, “Going Rogue,” she confirms reports of tension between her aides and those of the 2008 Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain. The vice presidential candidate confirms that she had wanted to speak on election night, but was denied the chance and says she was kept “bottled up” from reporters during the campaign.

Palin also writes harshly of CBS anchor Katie Couric, whom she describes as “badgering” and biased. Palin’s series of interviews with Couric were widely regarded as disastrous, leaving the impression of an ill-informed candidate who was unsuited for the job.

The 413-page book with 16 pages of color photos but no index comes out Tuesday. The Associated Press was able to purchase a copy Thursday.

The book follows Palin from childhood to her departure last summer as Alaska governor. It includes much of what her admirers, and detractors, expected: tributes to family, faith and patriotism, and attacks against the media and other perceived opponents.

She writes about the “jaded aura” of professional campaign aides and how McCain’s entourage limited her access to the media, leading to allegations – unfounded, she says – that she was avoiding reporters.

In the months leading up to her July resignation as Alaska governor, her legal bills had mounted to more than $500,000, fueled mostly by what she called frivolous ethics complaints. What appeared to upset her most, though, was that about $50,000 of the legal bills was her share of the expenses for being vetted for the VP nod, Palin writes.

She said no one had ever informed her that she would have to personally take care of any expenses related to the selection process.

Palin writes that when she asked officials at the Republican National Committee and what was left of the McCain campaign if they would help her financially, she was told the bills would have been paid if McCain had won, but since he lost, the bills were her responsibility.

Trevor Potter, general counsel for the McCain campaign, told the AP the campaign had never asked Palin to pay a legal bill.

“To my knowledge, the campaign never billed Gov. Palin for any legal expenses related to her vetting and I am not aware of her ever asking the campaign to pay legal expenses that her own lawyers incurred for the vetting process.”